Cabin Fever
by somebadhat
Summary: Wilson, Amber, Cuddy, And Cuddy's boyfriend were all supposed to go on a getaway vacation to a cabin in the woods together. That is, until Cuddy and her boyfriend break up. Wilson asks House to come along as a favor so Cuddy doesn't become the dreaded third wheel.
1. Chapter 1

"No way."

"House, please. Just do this one thing for me and I swear I'll never ask a favor like this again," Wilson pleaded.

"No! Why the hell would I want to spend a weekend in a cabin in the woods with you and your girlfriend?" Wilson was out of his mind.

"Because Cuddy's going?" he tried. He needed House to go on this trip with him so things weren't awkward.

"You told me two weeks ago Cuddy and _her boyfriend_ were going," House countered.

"That's why I need you to come! She and her boyfriend broke up so she'll be the third wheel if she comes with me and Amber alone. Plus you'd get Monday off work. You're the only mutual friend I can think of that she has so will you please, please, please come."

"No."

"I'll do anything in return."

"Anything?" House's interest piqued.

"Yes, anything," Wilson said desperately.

"Fine. We'll come to that later. I'll go."

Wilson's body language relaxed. "Fantastic, I'll go let Cuddy know."

[H] [H] [H] [H]

After work around six o'clock Wilson pulled up to House's apartment in Amber's SUV with Amber in the front passenger seat. He limped out with his cane in one hand and a duffel bag in the other. Wilson hopped out and opened the trunk for House to throw his duffel bag in.

"I don't get shotgun? I'm a cripple," he whined, gesturing with his cane.

"Nope," Wilson said unsympathetically. "We're stopping to pick up Cuddy next so hop in."

House grumbled but got in. It was a brief ride to Cuddy's. She was ready on her porch, a full suitcase packed.

The trip got rolling as soon as Cuddy joined House in the backseat.

"How long should the car ride be?" Cuddy questioned.

"Three hours," Amber replied.

"Wow, I didn't realize it'd be so long," she said.

House hadn't either. Rubbing his leg, he thought about the cramps three hours of sitting could give him. He popped open his Vicodin bottle and swallowed two pills, catching the look Cuddy gave him out of the corner of his eye. It was empathetic. She avoided her gaze to the window.

The first hour of the trip was silent other than chatter between Wilson and Amber and quiet music from the radio. Cuddy was reading a book and that left House to put in his own headphones because Amber's music was terrible.

House watched her for a while as she read. It was dark outside now so she'd switched over to a little book light. Her eyes were drooping, subtly at first, but now her eyes were shut and her head was hanging limply. She had fallen asleep.

House smirked at her. She looked so young, eerily similar to how she was in college as she slept. Lines of stressed had disappeared from her face.

Cuddy shifted slightly, enough to lean over and rest her head on House's shoulder.

At first House stiffened as she unconsciously snuggled up to him, but then he loosened up and rested his arm around her slumbering body. He took the book from her hands, marking the page and turning off the book light.

Amber looked over her shoulder to the back seat and gave House a '_well isn't that cute'_ look. He reciprocated with a look that clearly said '_shut up_.'

And before long, with the scent of Cuddy's hair in his mind, he drifted to sleep.

[H] [H] [H] [H]

"House… Cuddy… hey, wake up," Wilson muttered with a smile on his face. House awoke first, blinking away the fuzziness in his eyes. Cuddy remained out like a light against him.

House rubbed her arm up and down and she aroused. She made eye contact with Wilson in confusion and glanced up at House. Her cheeks turned red in embarrassment.

"And the answer to the question I know you're thinking, yes, we do have photographic evidence," Amber chuckled, waving her phone.

"Oh god," Cuddy laughed and sat up rubbing her eyes.

House chuckled and she sent daggers with her eyes, making it all the more funny for him.

"Let's go check out the cabin, guys." Amber bounded into the cabin.

The cabin was average sized, and on the older side with a nice character. The driveway was narrow and dirt and surrounded by trees, as was the cabin itself.

The interior contained two bedrooms and a living room with a couch, television, and fireplace. Downstairs there were a ping pong table and another couch and outside on the back deck were a hot tub and a grill. There was one bathroom with a tub-shower combo.

"Alright, one bedroom has a queen sized bed and the other has two twins. The couch is also a pullout if one of you…" he trailed off and scratched the back of his neck. "Anyways, Amber and I will take the room with the queen." He left to go put his and his girlfriend's bags into their room.

He made eye contact with Cuddy.

"I'm okay with sharing the room if you are," Cuddy said.

He nodded. "We could even be bunk buddies if you know what I mean." He winked at her.

They took their own bags to the room. House plopped his duffel bag onto the bed on one end of the room and said "I call this one."

"'Kay," she replied and took the remaining bed.

She looked at her phone to check the time. 10pm. "I guess I'm going to climb in bed and the fun begins tomorrow?"

"Cuddy, the fun can begin right now if you like," he said suggestively, raising his eyebrows and eyeing her.

"Right, in your dreams."

"You are correct, I do fantasize about you in my sleep," he replied.

"Oh, I so didn't want to know that," she laughed. "Turn around while I change, will you?"

"Sure." He turned around and waited a good ten seconds before turning ever so slightly and checking her out in his peripheral. Her stomach and legs were exposed and –

"House! Turn around for Pete's sake!"

He smirked and turned around completely, content with what he saw. Grabbing his own bag he pulled out sweatpants and stripped out of his jeans to put them on. Cuddy turned around in a tank top and shorts and he was in his boxers. His scar was covered mostly by them.

"Oh, sorry," she muttered, turning around again. Wow, House was in good shape. She could see his upper body strength demonstrated in his toned arms.

"It doesn't really matter." He pulled the sweatpants on and climbed into bed, remaining shirtless.

"It's freezing in here. Remind me again why we came so early in the spring?" Cuddy exclaimed, shivering in her bed.

"I'll go turn up the thermostat a bit." House ventured to the kitchen where the thermostat was kept and turned it up a few degrees.

"It'll take a while to warm up with this dinosaur heating system," he told Cuddy when he came back to the bedroom.

"Fantastic," she said. She lay back down in her bed and pulled her thin covers over herself. "Are there spare blankets?"

"I think Wilson and Amber took them all into their own bed."

She sighed. "I'll be alright. I should have packed warmer pajamas anyways."

House lay down in his bed and pulled his blankets over himself too. "Good night, Cuddy."

"Good night, House."

It was silent for about ten minutes, till Cuddy started chattering her teeth from shivering.

"Can you keep it down over there?"

"Sorry," she uttered.

Yet her teeth began to chatter again in five minutes, keeping House awake still.

House laid there and listened to it to the point where he couldn't take it any longer.

"You know what?" he said. He climbed out of bed and picked up his blankets and pillow. Carrying them over to Cuddy's bed he plopped them down. "If you're not gonna shut up I'll just have to warm you up myself."

"House, no. I'll be okay."

"I'm not listening to that all night and I'm not moving to the pullout couch, not with my leg. So this is option C."

"House, get back in your own bed."

He positioned his pillow and placed all the blankets on top of Cuddy's body before sliding into the bed himself. It was only a twin size but he made it work by spooning her. Taking his arm and wrapping it around her midriff, he pulled her back against his bare chest. He wriggled a bit and got comfy, his body fitting into all the nooks and crannies of her own. He became Cuddy's personal space heater, his warm skin heating her body. His nose touched the back of her neck and she smiled a little.

"We sure have been snuggling a lot lately, Cuddy," he said sleepily as he closed his eyes. "I told you we'd be bunk buddies."

"Yeah, I guess so. At least I'm warm now."

"'Night."

"'Night," she replied.

* * *

Next chapter soon, friends.


	2. Chapter 2

Trust me, nothing is smooth sailing with House and Cuddy for long.

* * *

Cuddy awoke to the smell of food seeping in from the small kitchen. From what she could tell bacon was being fried.

Throughout the course of the night at some point she had turned around so that her face was buried into House's chest. His arms were wrapped securely around her and when she opened her eyes he made eye contact with her.

"Sleeping Beauty's finally up?" he asked.

"Har, har." She rolled over onto her back, embarrassed to have spent the night wrapped in her employee's arms. "I'm going to go get some food." She walked out of the room feeling oddly out of place without House's embrace.

House stood as Cuddy left the room. He walked over the bathroom and took a satisfying morning pee before joining everyone else in the kitchen. Wilson, Amber, and Cuddy were all talking about the day ahead of them and what was planned with their backs to him.

"We were originally going to go hiking at Old Man's Cave, but since House wouldn't be able to we could skip," Wilson offered.

"You three should go and I can stay at the cabin and watch movies and get in the hot tub. I need a break from you losers anyways," House said.

"You sure?" Wilson said.

"Yeah. Seriously, I don't want to spend this entire weekend with you guys." He looked at Amber. "Especially you," he said sarcastically. "Go, for my sake."

"Alright, Old Man's Cave it is. We'll leave after breakfast and probably be gone most of the day," Wilson said. "We'd probably get home, what, around five?"

Amber nodded. Once everyone was done eating, everyone packed backpacks with water bottles and sandwiches for lunch. House wasn't much for small talk so he went to the small living room of the cabin and watched a cartoon on a local channel.

Cuddy came in the room. "I swear, no matter how old you really are you're twelve at heart," she chuckled at the pirate themed cartoon playing.

"I'm just as horny as a twelve year old too," he nodded.

"Trust me, I noticed last night. Let's just say you got a little excited in your sleep."

House made naughty eye contact with her. "Did I or are you just teasing me?"

"Oh no," she laughed, "trust me. I woke up from being poked in the back."

"I take that as proof that I'm _well endowed_."

She chuckled her sexy, throaty chuckle, making House smirk. She began, "Anyways, we're heading out now."

"Are you looking for my permission?" he asked.

"No. See you later."

Everyone emptied the cabin till it was just House remaining.

[H] [H] [H] [H]

"What to do, what to do…" he sighed.

He went outside and did a poor job of building a fire, but it was a fire nonetheless.

He sat by it at the picnic table in the back by the fire popping pills and drinking beer for a while, but he got bored.

For a short time he took sticks and played drums against the picnic table, whistling blues songs to himself and cursing at the squirrels in the trees for no good reason other than being tipsy.

He called his team for a bit and worked with them on a case they took on by themselves over the weekend. He solved it within minutes and managed to spend half the time insulting their lack of wit.

The cabin was extremely secluded, no one else within a mile of them.

Because of this House didn't bother with swim shorts. He simply stripped down nude and stepped into the tub. He turned the jets on high and leaned back as he enjoyed the back massage he was receiving. The beds in this cabin were brutal.

He opened his eyes and the sound of the screen door in back sliding open. His head jerked around as he watched Cuddy walk onto the back porch wearing a bikini.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just my luck, as soon as we step onto a trail I slip in a patch of mud and twist my knee. I saw you in hot tub from the window and figured I'd join y- are you… are you naked, House?"

"Yeah," he said and splashed water around with his hands. "So are you going to join me?"

"No, err, I'm going to head back in," she muttered uncomfortably. House looked hot enough and was already inviting himself to spoon her. This would be flat out pushing the boundaries between right and wrong.

"Will you join me if I put on shorts?"

She nodded.

"Then pass me that towel unless you want to get flashed." She tossed it towards him and walked back inside to use the restroom.

"I'm officially not nude so I'll be in the hot tub," he called through the door.

He waited in there until she came out, wearing her gray string bikini. Cuddy was in fabulous shape with all that yoga.

Cuddy hopped in and moaned at the hot water.

"That feels good."

"Tell me about it…" House said.

It was awkwardly quiet.

They didn't know what to stay to each other not to mention House getting in bed with her because they were cold wasn't helping.

"So…" she said.

"So…"

He cleared his throat and they returned to silence. "You and your most recent boy toy broke up?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I'm not talking about that." She avoided his gaze and looked out to the woods and the horizon in a dejected way.

"Is the reason it ended embarrassing? Did he have weird feet?"

House just found a puzzle, and Cuddy knew how he got when he was obsessed. Her personal life was not about to become his new obsession.

"Drop it. _Now_."

"Was he bad in bed?"

She clenched her jaw. "_I. Don't. Want. To. Talk. About it_. So drop it."

"Oh, I know! _You_ were bad in bed. Been a while?"

"Screw you." She stood up and splashed water into his face angrily. He flinched and rubbed his eyes. The chlorine stung. He heard water sloshing and when he opened his eyes she was wrapping a towel around her body and stalking towards the door.

He jumped out and followed her. "Cuddy, it's alright if you're a little rusty," he teased. He knew she was upset but this was the only way he knew.

He went to the hallway where the bathroom was. The door was shut and locked and she could hear Cuddy rustling around in there.

She opened the door dressed in jeans and a crew neck sweatshirt. She sighed when House was right outside the door waiting and purposely dropped a shoulder and shoved past him.

"Hey! I'm fragile, watch it," he exclaimed.

She didn't even bother with a response.

"Come on, enlighten me," he said.

Again, no response. Cuddy ignored him and began walking down the stairs to the second floor. Damning her twisted knee, it buckled beneath her and she fell on her ass and slid down two steps. She let out a short cry of pain.

"Cuddy? Are you okay?" House limped slowly down the steps and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine. And if you were wondering, still pissed. So you can leave me alone now." He dropped his hand off.

She winced and tried to stand but sat back down.

"Come on." He put his hand on her arm again and helped her stand.

"I don't want your help at the moment. Like I said, I'm still pissed."

"And I don't really care. You're not walking back up these stairs without me."

She scoffed. "Oh, please! You're a cripple! You'll bring us both down before I do."

His eyes looked hurt but he took her by the arm and helped her up the stairs anyways.

"Come on," he repeated once more, this time without emotion.

He took her upstairs and sat her down on a kitchen chair. Another kitchen chair was used to prop up the knee. Limping over to the fridge, he pulled open the freezer and grabbed ice cubes. He wrapped them in a cloth and lifted Cuddy's knee so he could sit on the chair with her foot on his lap. Then, he placed the ice on her knee.

She cleared her throat uncomfortably and didn't look at him. "Thanks," she said in an annoyed tone.

"Yep."

"Sorry I called you a cripple."

"Do you think I really care about that?" he wondered out loud.

"You may not _want_ to care but I saw the look in your eyes. You lost your poker face," she voiced.

"Whatever."

"That's all you've got? The man notorious for his sarcastic lashes has nothing to say?" she feigned shock and shifted her leg against his lap.

"I guess so."

"One comment couldn't have really upset you," she insisted.

"I'm not upset."

"Riiight," she countered.

"Hey, I'm not the only one ticked off here. You're mad about the recent loss of your boy toy," he said.

"He wasn't a boy toy. I liked him." House shifted the ice on her knee. "Hey! Watch it, that hurt."

"The guy was a huge weenie! Every time he came in to visit the office I gagged a little."

"I know, but he was still a weenie I liked. Can we please come up with a better insult than weenie? I won't be able to keep a straight face if we keep referring to him like that."

"Fine, an ass," he offered.

She shook her head. "That insult has a special place in my heart, reserved for the one and only." She gestured to House.

"Thanks," he said sarcastically.

"How about just Will? His _name_ ought to work."

"Okay, Will the jerk-off was a loser who you were too good for. So are you going to tell me what happened or not?" he challenged.

"He cheated."

She tried to fake a smile and it looked so incredibly heartsick. Luckily House wasn't one to coddle because she couldn't take it if he pitied her.

"That's a joke right? Will the fuck-face had you, _you,_ and needed more on the side? What a fucking idiot!" He was shaking his head in disbelief. "Wow."

"Tell me about it."

"How about you tell me."

"His ex wanted to get back together. He ended up two-timing us both," she explained, "instead of owning up to it."

There was a pause between them both.

"You don't deserve that," House said.

They made eye contact for a while and she smiled sadly at him.

Wilson and Amber walked in through the door, laughing about something that was said before they came in.

"Hey, how's your knee?" Amber asked. She looked at House sitting across from Cuddy holding her leg and icing it with suspicion. He was wearing nothing but swim shorts. The first thing Amber noticed was that she was surprised he was in shape.

"Fine. How was the hike?" she inquired.

"Fantastic," she said without really paying attention.

House placed her leg back down gently and stood up. He put the ice cloth on the countertop and said, "I'm going to go change."

Amber inched towards Cuddy. "Is something going on with you and House? The room seemed tense."

"No, everything's fine."

"Alright," she said unconvincingly.

* * *

Bombard me with reviews my lovelies.


	3. Chapter 3

If I'm not left with a bunch of reviews after this, I'm going to be heartbroken. My heartbreak will reflect onto my babysitting skills. Think of the children, guys.

* * *

The rest of the evening went on quite uneventfully. Wilson, Amber, Cuddy and House had dinner outside on the patio. Hot dogs were roasted over the fire Wilson rebuilt from House's earlier embers. It couldn't have been a more cliché campfire experience, but everyone was okay with that.

Likewise, Cuddy and House would occasionally make eye contact across the fire pit and hold it for longer than average with flames reflecting from their eyes. That is, till before one of them would be otherwise distracted and be forced to look away.

The whole night they were getting buzzed on fruity drinks Amber insisted on making. She was proud of her bartending skills when really she always added way too much vodka. Not that House minded that.

Cuddy made a joke about one of the board members both she and Wilson despised and Wilson laughed so hard he cried, in return making everyone else laugh.

Yes, it was a quite uneventful evening.

By one in the morning everyone agreed to call it a night.

In the bedroom things went a little differently to the night before. The heat had been turned up so House went to his respective bed and Cuddy to hers.

"'Night," Cuddy said as she pulled her blankets to her shoulders.

"Yeah," House replied.

Silence filled the room like a block of ice.

They both lay there, thinking the exact same thoughts about the person across the room. _They sure smelled nice. They were so warm. I wish the heat hadn't been fixed._

It would be hours before either of them saw a wink of sleep. And before that could happen, they both needed to wrap themselves in the other.

Three in the morning. Two sleepless hours had gone by.

"House," she whispered.

House was awake but didn't answer quite yet.

"House, you awake?" she whispered.

"Yeah," he said in his normal tone. He wasn't going to whisper across the room at her.

"I can't sleep," she continued whispering.

"Me either. My leg…" he trailed off.

"Yeah," she said. _Well come on over to my bed then_, she thought.

"Cuddy?"

"Hm?"

"Are you beating around the bush to asking me to come sleep with you?" he inquired sarcastically.

"Pretty much," she whispered back.

He ripped off his covers and gladly joined her.

[H] [H] [H] [H]

"Today's original plan was to go see a waterfall, but now that we're back down to two peop-"

Cuddy cut Wilson off. "You and Amber have to go! You paid to come on this trip and I'd feel bad if my silly twisted knee got in the way of you guys seeing what you came to see."

"You sure?"

"I'm positive. House and I will find some other way to explore the town. We'll find a local restaurant and give that a try, won't we House?" she turned to face him.

House shrugged. Amber was eyeing Cuddy and House suspiciously. House sneered at her childishly and she sneered back.

"Well if you put it that way…" Wilson trailed off.

"How about House and I drop you off at the hiking trail to get to the falls and when you need picked up you give us a call?"

"Alright."

Before long, House and Cuddy were alone in the SUV together with soft rock playing on the stereo.

"So what are the plans, my lady?"

"I'm not sure. There's plenty of stuff for us to do around here. We could go bird watching-" House gagged. "Ok, no bird watching." She continued, "There's horseback riding, zip lining, canoeing, renting ATV's, and pretty much anything where we don't need our legs."

"ATV's you say?"

"Yeah, if you want. Look up the phone number in the pamphlet and we could go there."

"Sweet."

[H] [H] [H] [H]

House and Cuddy filled out lengthy waivers and forms and stored House's cane in the warehouse till, finally, they were able to choose their vehicle. It was decided that Cuddy would ride as a passenger to House, seeing as he had motorcycle experience and she had never so much as touched a four wheeler let alone anything with gears.

House immediately had his eye on a beautiful specimen of machinery. A Honda TRX 450 was in his sights and he wasn't about to let it out of his sight any time soon.

"Ooh, baby. I want this," he said with a devilish grin on his face. He stepped onto the four wheeler and turned the key to 'on.' Practically giddy with excitement, he pulled in the clutch and held down the starter till the engine roared to life, purring and hiccupping with beauty and precision. "Ooh," he repeated.

"Someone's happy," she joked. House put his helmet on and handed Cuddy hers.

"Put that on and climb on the back of this quad."

"Quad?" she inquired.

"Slang for four wheeler. _Quad means four_, it has four wheels, now get on."

Cuddy pulled the helmet over her head and looped the chin strap through the buckle. She rested her hands on his shoulders hesitantly, a little worried.

House reached behind himself and pulled her arms to wrap around his abdomen.

"Hold me here, and interlock your fists. You can hold me as tight as you need while we're riding." House was being serious and informative; Cuddy was new and now was the time to put jokes aside for a moment. "When we turn, lean with me. Don't try to lean on your own or you'll flip us, okay?"

She nodded. She pulled her goggles over her eyes when she saw House doing so.

"Ready?" House asked.

"Ready."

House shifted down into first gear from neutral and pulled out, slowly at first, and then taking off and winding up the RPMs high as he accelerated.

Cuddy squealed, not because she was scared but because it was _fun_. Her chin rested above his shoulder so she could see where they were heading.

In front of her she heard House laughing loudly in front of her like she hadn't heard him since college. She could feel the joy in his laughing chest with her arms wrapped around him and enjoyed the thrill this was.

Trees flew by in a blur and mud splashed onto her legs. She'd never realized one person could love mud so much, but she loved it with every fiber of herself.

House certainly knew his way around an off-road vehicle, pulling a wheelie and riding it out for 15 feet.

Cuddy, for once in her life, felt airy and free, like she could do anything she wanted. And she could do anything she wanted. What was holding her back?

The quad trails they were on led to some sand dunes and House fish tailed his way through it, shifting down and drifting through a donut.

Straightening out again, he reentered the forest and followed the signs to find the lake. They went through twists and turns through which Cuddy's arm tightened around him.

She leaned, just as he taught her, to go with his body.

Eventually they pulled up to a beautiful lake. The sounds of glorious engines boomed in the background but it only added the elation they both felt. House brought the quad to a stop and killed the engine. House stepped off and removed his helmet, showing his hair to be matted and sticking out in every direction.

"I need to stretch my leg. Don't burn yourself on the engine, Cuddy." He noticed her leg was close to it.

"Thanks." She took off her own helmet and turned around on the seat of the four wheeler. She sat backwards on the quad with her feet hanging off the seat.

House's was covered in mud and Cuddy matched him. The trees around them were livelily green and the browns of the bark were rich and full. It was a small paradise.

Cuddy was smiling exuberantly and House noticed.

"Be careful, it might get stuck that way," he joked.

"What?" she said confusedly. "Oh! I didn't even realize I was smiling," she said. "Talk about Mr. Giggles over here, I've never heard you laugh so hard."

He smirked. "Beautiful vehicles and beautiful women do that to me apparently." House stepped in towards the quad and leaned against it with his butt.

Cuddy blushed and looked away.

"How much longer do we have in the rental?" she changed the subject.

"Forty-five minutes. And you're avoiding what I just said."

"Yeah, and I'm going to keep on avoiding it."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Well, for your information, the polite thing to do when someone compliments you is to thank them."

"And you're all about good manners all of the sudden?"

"It's a recent development," he replied. He was smirking at her response.

"Thanks," she said. She hopped off the quad and walked to the water. Her hands dipped in and it was icy cold but she didn't mind. It felt nice. She stepped back and sat down a foot from the shore of it. House sat next to her.

"This is peaceful," he observed.

Cuddy was watching House out of her peripheral vision. She didn't want to be openly staring at him as he drunk in the scenery, but she couldn't help but be fascinated with his fascination. Unexpectedly for the both of them, she leaned over and propped herself up with one hand, using the other to guide him to her. She held his jaw firmly and passionately and brought him in for a kiss. She closed her eyes and went for it.

House was caught off guard but not enough that he didn't immediately reciprocate. Their lips and touched and slowly moved against one another's.

Both their heads leaned to the left so their noses wouldn't bump, and they pushed and pulled against each other. House introduced his tongue to the mix by subtly grazing her lip with it, not overpowering with it, but using it as a tool. Cuddy could appreciate a man who didn't thrust their tongue right in.

House brought his hand to her neck and slowed the pace of the kiss to a stop.

Cuddy opened her eyes and sat back, gazing out at the lake. House stared at her in shock and admiration.

"Sorry about that," she said. Her tone was anything but apologetic, however.

House brushed his thumb along his lower lip with a smirk.

"What's there to be sorry for?"

[H] [H] [H] [H]

Their rental time was over by the time they returned to the warehouse and Wilson and Amber hadn't given them a call, so they just went back to the cabin instead. The car ride home had been awkward, but not as awkward as expected.

Cuddy left to rinse off the mud from her body in the bathroom. She emerged in her gray string bikini, causing House to lock his eyes onto her figure.

"I'm just going to go get in the hot tub…" she said awkwardly and turned to leave.

House stood and followed her. She was oblivious to the fact that House was walking behind her, desperate to get out of the tense environment. They both stepped outside through the sliding glass door and when Cuddy turned to close it behind her, he was right there. Standing at six foot two inches, Cuddy yelped in surprise at seeing his large body in the doorway.

Without saying anything, House stepped forward and closed the door. Noting that they were in each other's personal space, she turned around and tried to walk towards the hot tub. The key word being 'tried', because House got behind Cuddy and brushed his fingertips across her bare back, making her stop in her tracks.

He traced his fingers along her back till they met the small string of her bikini. She held her breath but didn't stop him. Gripping the end of the bowtie it was in, he pulled slowly, till the strings fell apart. Her back was still to him so he couldn't see what he was after.

He reached around and grasped the fabric of the bikini, brushing her purposely as he did so. He pulled it off and over her head.

"Turn around," he demanded huskily. She obliged, and he kissed her on the lips with a fierce gentleness that came from a man like House.

[H] [H] [H] [H]

House was lying naked next to Cuddy in their room when his phone went off with 'Dancing Queen' by Abba.

"Yeah," he answered.

"Hey, can you pick us up? We're finished hiking," Wilson spoke through the phone.

"Yeah, give me a couple minutes and I'll pick you up at the same place I dropped you off."

"Okay. Amber- Amber, I'm sure it's fine…" he spoke to his girlfriend. "Amber said to tell you if there's so much as a scratch on her truck she'll… Amber, I'm not saying that!"

"Whatever, I'll be by soon." He hung up and turned to Cuddy, who was covering herself up with a sheet. "I'm leaving to go get them now. Try to make it look like we didn't just have sex before I get back," he joked.

* * *

The next chapter will be the final chapter (the weekend is almost over, sadly). If you encourage me with enough reviews, I'll include an epilogue after that! Thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

House returned to the secluded cabin with his best friend and his girlfriend thirty minutes later. Cuddy was sitting at the kitchen in jeans and a crew neck. A tea mug was in her hands and she was sipping out of it.

"Hi, guys," she greeted.

Everyone nodded their hellos.

"I am _starving_," Amber sighed.

Wilson opened the fridge and dug around. "How about I cook up pasta and shrimp?"

"Who needs a wife when I have Wilson?" House cracked.

House and Cuddy both stood up at the same time, and avoided eye contact at the coincidence. Cuddy awkwardly laughed it off. They had to find a way to act natural.

"I'm going to-"

"Yeah, me too-"

House gestured for Cuddy to exit the room first but Amber stopped them both.

Wilson looked confused at the tension and Amber looked like she was placing pieces of a puzzle.

"Alright guys, this is going to sound weird since you guys have always had this weird vibe to start with. But did you guys have sex, because things are feeling real weird around this place."

Wilson's eyes got wide.

"Yeah, right. I slept with my boss," House said sarcastically. However well he could lie, he knew this one was down to Cuddy's reaction. She was who Wilson and Amber were focusing on, seeing as House was a world-class liar.

And, unfortunately, nothing Cuddy could say could convince them otherwise because she wore a look of guilt in her eyes.

"House!" Wilson yelled. "What the hell?"

House naturally went into self-defense mode. "She started it!"

Cuddy gasped. "I did not! "You're the one who initiated the damn thing!"

"No-"

"Everyone shut up! Shut up, House." Wilson had his hands over his ears like a schoolboy. "I so do not want to hear about this." He gestured to House. "You! I asked you to do me a favor coming on this trip and this is what you do? Thanks. I'm so glad I could count on you."

"It was consensual! Why am I the bad guy here?"

"Just shut up," Wilson shook his head in disbelief. "One weekend was all I asked."

House wasn't really worried about Wilson being upset. It happened all the time and Wilson always forgave him. He turned to Cuddy, however, who looked less than delighted.

"I'm going to turn in early…" she said, grabbing a banana to eat in her room. Cuddy couldn't be upset, could she?

"Cud-" he started, but she was already disappearing from the kitchen.

"And then there were two," Amber stated lamely.

House glared at her.

"What?" she asked in a harmless tone.

"What do you think? Did you really have to go and do that?"

"Please, I didn't do anything you hadn't already set yourself up for. Next time, try to actually be discreet and you won't run into this problem again."

"Screw off," he muttered.

He went to the bedroom and opened the door. Cuddy was lying on the bed with her back facing outward. House went to lie down but Cuddy spoke.

"Sleep in your bed tonight. I have enough blankets."

"Look, Cuddy, just because they found out about us doesn't mean everything's got to be weird now."

She scoffed.

"What?" House asked.

"There is no _us_, House. That was a one-time thing. It shouldn't have even been that."

"You're the one who kissed me," he stated in confusion.

She looked over her shoulder at him. "I've been going through a rough time with that breakup and you knew that, House. There's no way I'd be looking for a relationship right after that," she said. "I just… need some space."

House didn't respond, but took himself back to his bed.

That night neither of them slept well, but this time they didn't share whispers in the dark.

[H] [H] [H] [H]

Driving home was awkward to say the least. Cuddy fell asleep again, this time with her head against the window of the SUV rather than against House as she had done the past few days. In fact, she sat as far away from him as possible. House was slightly unsettled by it but just looked out at the billboards passing by his own window.

House didn't speak a word to anyone on the way home because no one spoke a word to him. Wilson was obviously pissed, Amber didn't care one bit but was obviously going to back up her boyfriend, and Cuddy "needed space."

They arrived first at Cuddy's. She hopped out and dragged her suitcase out of the trunk. House rolled down his window as she walked next to the truck.

"See you at work," he said. Cuddy didn't answer, but kept walking. He rolled his window back up and sat back.

They quietly rode back to House's apartment. The entire way back House thought about the weekend and the days he spent alone with Cuddy. As soon as he jumped out of the truck he pulled his duffel bag into his apartment and grabbed the keys to his bike.

He considered his usual route after his fuck-ups where he shows up randomly in the middle of the night but he decided he couldn't wait.

"Here goes nothing…" he said as he slid his helmet over his head.

He knocked on Cuddy's door and waited. Footsteps could be heard echoing from inside the house till the door swung open.

Cuddy audibly sighed. "House…" She adjusted her blouse uncomfortably. Little did House know she was uncomfortable because she didn't _want_ to be mad at him.

"Shut up and just listen, will you?"

Cuddy looked taken aback by his opening sentence but indeed did stop talking. She crossed her arms and gestured for him to continue.

House took a step towards her and said, "I don't know about you, but that was the most fun I've had in… about forever." Cuddy opened her mouth to talk but House stopped her. "I said stop talking. When we were sitting by that lake kissing I… I didn't feel like a _cripple_, you know? I didn't feel old or useless. I felt like a guy. You don't know the last time I just felt like a guy, not _House_." He said.

"Can I talk now?" she questioned him. She uncrossed her arms and pulled on the bottom of her shirt.

"Yep, that's all you," he gestured.

She nodded. "Okay," she said, "I just went through a hard breakup, House."

"I know, but-" Cuddy cut him off.

"But _nothing_, House. Now is just not the time for me. The sex was a mistake."

"It was not!" House defended.

She sighed and shook her head. "Even if it wasn't, like I said… the breakup I just went through, it kicked my ass House. I'm just not ready for another relationship."

"Then use me for Pete's sake! Just use me as a rebound and I'll pretend not to have feelings for you and you can pretend not to have feelings for me and we'll just be House and Cuddy. No relationship. Just fun, which you look like you could use."

Cuddy made eye contact indecisively with him. She crooked her head to the side slightly, looking at House up and down. House stood there being sized up.

Cuddy squinted at him and stepped towards him. She grabbed him by the hem of his jacket and pulled him roughly into a kiss. House wasn't quite expecting that but immediately reciprocated, landing his hand on her ass. Right when he was getting into it Cuddy let go of him and backed up.

"Okay," she said, nodding. "See you at work then."

House laughed to himself as Cuddy turned back into her home and shut her front door.

"See you at work then," he chuckled only to himself.

THE END

* * *

I might be posting an epilogue so tell me if you have any ideas friends.


End file.
